Headrests containing speakers are known. Exemplary patents relating to speaker headrests for passenger vehicles are those to McCorkle, U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,605; Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,766; and Gold, U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,393. The patent to Taylor relates to a slip-cover type device intended to slip over the back of the seat, such as an airplane seat, said slip-cover having two opposed pockets to accommodate a pair of speakers.
The patent to Gold relates to a cylindrical type headrest having a speaker enclosed at one end thereof. A hollow tube in the center of the headrest supports the speaker and is open at the opposite end to permit sound from a single speaker to be emitted from the end of the headrest opposite the speaker also. Only a single speaker is utilized in the headrest of Gold. Insertion of a second speaker at the opposite end of the central tube would not provide good stereophonic sound reproduction since both speakers would share a common acoustical passageway and would further be directing transmitted sound away from one another.
The McCorkle patent relates to a stereo speaker headrest for an automobile seat wherein a pair of opposed speakers are enclosed in a body of resilient material which is adapted to slip over attachment means to attach the speaker to the vehicle seat. The speaker headrest of McCorkle is padded only in a central area and apparently has side members which are supported only by a thin section of resilient material.
Stereo speaker headrests have been devised for various types of chairs or seats. U.S. Pat. No. 3,230.320 to Kerr relates to a dental chair having a curved headrest containing opposed speakers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,464,435 and 2,452,103 to Conradt relate to a stereo speaker device which can be temporarily attached to the back of a seat. Patents to Christie, U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,804; Lanzara, U.S. pat. No. 3,384,719; and Majoros, U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,450, relate to pillow-type devices upon which ones head can be rested and which contain a pair of speakers.